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Women Preaching On The Streets

I find it a bit heartbreaking that so many people are now into “Street Preaching”. Not that it is a bad thing, indeed, it can be a very good thing…but it has become a new badge, a new “Thing to do to be right in evangelism”…and in the case of women standing in the street preaching like men…it is not obedient to what God says women are to refrain from. We are told to teach younger women…and that does include witnessing to them, but in a different venue. There are plenty of Evangie sites that insist that it is okay to use women in this….Really? There are NO examples of women in scripture, standing out in the courtyards, preaching the gospel, and no one has been able to offer accurate support of that from scripture…which should tell us something, now shouldn’t it? Yes, it is the “IN” thing to be doing…but are we seeking to be “IN” the IN crowd, or are we seeking to obey our Father in Heaven? Do we seek to please sites like WOTM (who are right in teaching the full Gospel, but wrong in enlisting women as public shills for it). Yes, they will try to cite Priscilla and Aquila (who brought the man into their home and explained the gospel rightly to him….and I’m sure she helped her husband do that…in their home. Which was a meeting place for believers…still does not say she was preaching in public, so let’s stop reading what one would like INTO what it never says in scripture). They will cite Deborah….um…a judge in the OT…not a preacher of anything. Apples and oranges, folks. Context may be good to look at. They will even try to cite Mary and Martha….going so far out on a limb as to say that their running to the disciples and telling them that Jesus was risen was “evangelism”….it was not. Context again….they were Christ’s disciples…HE had already evangelized them….the women simply sought them because they were astounded and happy….hello.Truth is that, in context and application, there is not one woman shown through scripture who stood on street corners preaching. And why not? Well, no doubt because God has said through Paul that women are not to preach. Not to the public, not to men, not on streets with mics and boxes to stand on while they preach and debate with the lost. Not one REAL example. So, bottom line is this…..

Men…get out there…preach your hearts out. Women…we can find lost women EVERYWHERE…go talk to them one on one…off the street….for to disobey God, even if it is a good activity, is still disobedience…and women are not to act like men. Period.

YES…we can fulfill His Commission…but we have to do it like women who have clearly stated boundaries by God himself….and the thing that is really bothering me is that men who use Street witnessing are also using women in it…and it has become a source of pride and a form of idolotry for both….and that is dead wrong.

God tells us women not to be spouting off in church, not to teach men, not to do many things…that we are usurping men’s position of authority when we go against that…Who were the women that the Lord told to go out and preach the Gospel when He gave His Commission? Or was he talking to men? Do you think that it was merely an oversight by Jesus NOT to have women included in that group? That, doggone it….He just forgot to get some women there, but he meant we should go out and stand on the streets too…if only He was not so forgetful? NO. There is a reason He was speaking to a group of men…because men are the ones in authority and who go out and speak publicly in streets…but we…we are told to teach other women….that is, by the very example given in scripture, a different venue. And it is just as good a venue…it is just a different venue. (Ah…the horrors of women’s ‘lib’ that have so permeated the minds of the church…women can do whatever men do…blah blah blah).

So, to the men who insist that women are told to do the same as they do, in this kind of evangelism…you are helping the weaker sex disobey our Father…and to the women who insist that they can do what men do…you are behaving just like daughters of Eve…and both are in error.

Men…take your places…go preach the Gospel on the streets boldly, IF that is WHERE God (and only GOD) has called you to witness. (You know…it may be popular and it make a lot of money for the most popular evangelism ministry, but not everyone has to stand in the street…just sayin…)

And women…obey the word! Your place is not in the forefront…standing on the street like some evangelical whore…for only whores call out on the street, according to Proverbs…but your place is in supporting your husband as he goes out, if that is his venue, and in teaching the younger women to be godly, in giving young women the Gospel, in raising godly children….do the job that God has created you for and clearly given you to do. You are not a man. You are a woman….be God’s woman. One on one…no spotlights….no public displays….like a godly woman who simply obeys her Father.

This was first published on May 27, 2011, after much debate with a man from Living Waters, among others, who refused to even consider that what I am saying here is true and valid. Many who debated had much at stake in their own evangelism….having even their own daughters out on the streets with them, as well as LW teaching that women are okay to do this, as they take their money to learn how to (um, have an issue with that LW) so there are many issues going on there that may have prevented them from really wanting to see or hear why it is wrong for them to do so. That said….it seems like a repost is timely. There is nothing from any author that has changed my mind about how I read the counsel of God or what He means. And man made exceptions and scripture stretches do nothing to make Him say what he clearly has not in His word. So, I’m sure this may be a bit “controversial”….but I feel that with all the hoopla over one man’s recent book insisting that woman are okay to be street preachers (having a vested interest in that himself, I have to say), what scripture says without adding to or subtracting from it really has to be said. At least, I have to say it. And it looks like I just did. May God convict the hearts of those who wish He had really said otherwise, and may women be content to be women as god calls us to be and as HE defines godly womanhood and biblical submission. SDG!~AGM†

15 thoughts on “Women Preaching On The Streets”

Thanks, a worthwhile contribution to an ongoing discussion. I can’t see how street preaching differs from regular preaching. Therefore, women shouldn’t be doing it, except perhaps to other women? But how can they ensure that they only preach to women? What do they do should a man approach and want to listen? If they can’t get past these issues, it seems wiser to not do it.

Obviously, anyone who thinks women should be ordained and can preach in church is not going to agree with this post anyway, so the issue of street preaching would be a moot point for them. However, I get the impression (please correct me if I am wrong) that what is being referred to here are people who don’t allow women to preach to men in church, but are saying street preaching is a different matter. If that is correct, I fail to see how simple logic would allow that conclusion.

I am inclined to lend my voice to the overall concerns expressed in this article. Is ‘street preaching’ becoming more of a ‘fad’ than anything else? I do see it being held over people’s head as a sort of ‘if you really want to win people for Christ you will do this’ kind of activity. That is completely inappropriate if that is happening, as we are all gifted by the Holy Spirit in different ways. Not all are called to preach. Another point I think the athor makes that is worth considering is the suggestion to find alternative ways for women to preach/witness to other women. Something more private and personal. I don’t see an issue with women being out in public, but perhaps being there to speak one to one with other women and then invite them to meet another time for further discussion might be more appropriate? I have no great experience in this area, so I am jut sharing my initial thoughts. Feel free to disagree. :-)

I would have loved to post this on my Fb wall, as I normally do with all your posts, but I’ll refrain from posting this one because of the picture. I’m not sure what the picture is supposed to say, but I have a feeling that it tries to portray a likeness of Jesus.

Concerning the picture, I re-blogged the post from another sisters blog. That meant me using the picture too. Do not read into the picture that is not there ok, not at all what you imply. :-) I hope that you are set at ease.

Thank you so very much for your thoughts re: the woman’s role in the church. Could you please help me with another issue? Is it appropriate for a woman to open or close in prayer in the midst of men within a church gathering during worship or sunday school? Is it also appropriate for a woman to make comments on the Bible lessons with men included in the group? I very much look forward to your comments. Thank you again!

Is it appropriate for a woman to open or close in prayer in the midst of men within a church gathering during worship or sunday school? Is it also appropriate for a woman to make comments on the Bible lessons with men included in the group?

I cannot find a Biblical mandate for Sunday School, yes women are to teach the children, but that is not a mandate for Sunday School. The Bible also does not restrict women from teaching children.

lets go to the Bible and see what it says and some of the solid good Bible commentators.

In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
(1 Timothy 2:9-12 KJV)

1Ti_2:9-10. Though women are not to conduct public worship, pray publicly or teach in the assembly, yet they are to join with the whole church in prayer. For public worship, a woman should be dressed in apparel which is not showy, conspicuous, suggestive or extreme, nor dress in such a way as to attract the eyes of others or lift up her own heart in pride. There should be no excessive arrangement of the hair or decoration of the body with gold, pearls and jewelry to attract attention. Women, as well as men, should realize that true beauty and adornment are not the adornment of the body but the right ordering of the heart!1Ti_2:11-12. Women are not to teach, preach, lead in prayer, or have a voice in the business affairs of the church. They are to be learners, not teachers, in subjection to their husbands and to the ministers of the word (1Co_14:34-35). Women may pray, teach and instruct other women and children (Tit_2:3; Pro_1:8).
1Ti_2:13-14. The seasons the apostle gives for women being silent in the affairs of the church and the worship of the Lord are found in the original law of the relation of woman to man before God.
1. Man’s headship in creation (1Co_11:3; 1Co_11:8-9; Eph_5:23). The woman, by divine rule, is in subjection to her husband, and any attempt by her to assume the part of the head or instructor is to overturn God’s order.
2. Woman’s priority in transgression. Man was not deceived; the woman was! She confessed that the serpent beguiled her, thereby suggesting her inferiority to man in strength; knowledge and wisdom. Her subjection to the man is more greatly imposed since the Fall.
1Ti_2:15. Nevertheless, the pain and distress put upon women in child-bearing does not hinder their souls’ salvation. They shall be saved eternally if they continue in faith. God’s blessings are upon women in their true sphere, that of motherhood, home life and godliness. But perhaps the reference here is to the salvation of all believers through the divine Child to be born of woman – the Lord Jesus Christ. (Henry Mahan Bible commentaries)

1 Timothy 2:12But I suffer not a woman to teach,They may teach in private, in their own houses and families; they are to be teachers of good things, Tit_2:3. They are to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; nor is the law or doctrine of a mother to be forsaken, any more than the instruction of a father; see Pro_1:8. Timothy, no doubt, received much advantage, from the private teachings and instructions of his mother Eunice, and grandmother Lois; but then women are not to teach in the church; for that is an act of power and authority, and supposes the persons that teach to be of a superior degree, and in a superior office, and to have superior abilities to those who are taught by them:

nor to usurp authority over the man; as not in civil and political things, or in things relating to civil government; and in things domestic, or the affairs of the family; so not in things ecclesiastical, or what relate to the church and government of it; for one part of rule is to feed the church with knowledge and understanding; and for a woman to take upon her to do this, is to usurp an authority over the man: this therefore she ought not to do,

but to be in silence; to sit and hear quietly and silently, and learn, and not teach, as in 1Ti_2:11. (John Gill Bible commentaries)

A borrowed quote from hubby dear:This is not a matter of superiority or inferiority. It is God’s order! This is not based on the rants and ravings of some repulsive post-modern chauvinistic ideology. It is God’s order.

In the Church of God women are to learn according to Biblical instruction, in a divinely ordered way as becomes women (I Cor. 15:35; I Tim. 2:11-12). It is always wrong for women to push themselves forward, to usurp authority over men, and seek to dominate men. Only weak, spineless men will allow it to happen. And only proud rebellious women want it to happen. God’s people should all honour God’s order and organization.

I hope this was helpful :-)

May the Lord put it in our hearts to serve Him as He wishes.
In Christ
Elmarie

Thank you for your kind assistance in pointing me to God’s truth in His Word. The scriptures you have shared have been of great help. I also appreciate the links and commentaries. Thank you again, dear sister and brother in the Lord.
In the Lord’s grace,
Carol

A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.
(Proverbs 12:4 KJV)

Mathew Henry explains thus :

Proverbs 12:4
A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband,…. One that is loving and chaste, constant and faithful, obsequious and submissive to him; that is diligent in the affairs of her house, takes care of her family, brings up her children, and keeps up a good order and decorum among her servants, is an honour and credit to her husband. Such is the true church of Christ, who is compared to a woman, Rev_12:1; to a woman of purity and chastity, whose members are virgins, not defiled with the corruptions, errors, and superstition of the apostate church; to a woman of fortitude and courage, as the word (m) signifies, who resists sin, temptation, error, heresy, and idolatry, even unto blood; and whose true members love not their lives unto death, but freely lay them down in the cause of truth; such an one is an honour to Christ her husband;

but she that maketh ashamed; makes her husband ashamed, by her levity and wantonness, her negligence and slothfulness, so that he is ashamed to be seen with her, or to be known that he stands in such a relation to her; she

is as rottenness in his bones; a constant grief to his mind, a pressure upon his spirits, a wasting of his body, and a consumption of his estate; she is, as the Targum has it, “as a worm in wood”, which rots and consumes it (n); so the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions. Thus the apostate church of Rome, that professes to be the spouse of Christ, has made him ashamed of her; as being the Jezebel, that seduces his servants to fornication or idolatry; and whose doctrine and superstition eat, like a canker, the vitals of religion.

I have no proof of this, but I spoke to two theologians from America at different times during the awakening of the feminist movement in the early eighties of the last century. The feminist movement was at that stage starting to make inroads into the evangelical church, and specifically into the SBC-Southern Baptist Convention. (In 1986 I visited a seminary of the SBC and had a meeting with a female professor of practical theology.. She was at that stage campaigning for COMBINED & INTEGRATED toilets for males and females on the university campus on which the seminary was situated. She was one of those feminists. I could with no will in the world understand the lethargy of the males lecturers on campus..). But back to these two male theologians: They both said that virtually all these women in church ended up as lesbians, and most left the church, as their agenda was not welcome there..

I know that in this day of feminism, when women want to look, act, and talk like men and men are taught to look, act, and talk like women, people are aghast when they hear it, however – No woman has ever been called of God to preach the gospel, pastor a church, serve as a deacon in a church or provide any kind of “discernment” ministry. The Word of God is crystal clear in this matter. And no other argument or sentiment is of any importance in this matter.

Notwithstanding the fact, that the women who lay claim to being “watch-women” have no Biblical mandate or calling to ministry, most of them exhibit extremely bad attitudes about men in church leadership. They are arrogant and self-centered and their deceived and fickle fans worship them, defending their counterfeit ministries with great gusto. Very little of what is done in the so-called discernment ministries exalts the Lord Jesus Christ. If the ministry has been self-appointed, not called by God, nothing that is done there can glorify God.

Is it any real wonder why most people in this kind of ministry are women? Is it any further wonder that weak men pledge allegiance to these women and even follow and support their fake ministries? Certainly their efforts at ministry constitute blatant acts of rebellion. On closer examination, it becomes alarmingly evident that their private lives exhibit a similar pattern of curses, lies, strife, broken families and other forms of instability. Few of them attend any church and most of them speak out against any church, forgetting that the church is the very thing which they claim to be defending.

God has an order for society which is laid out in His Word. It is an order which is timeless and essential and which has never proven to be unnecessary, outdated or superfluous in war, society, the family or the church. In every instance where God’s order has been replaced by that of men, it has been an utter failure and has taken place at irrecoverable cost. In the home, in the Church of God, and in God’s order for society, women are to be in subjection to their husbands as unto the Lord (Eph. 5:22-24; 1 Cor. 11:1-3).

In the Church of God women are to learn according to Biblical instruction, in a divinely ordered way as becomes women (I Cor. 15:35; I Tim. 2:11-12). It is always wrong for women to push themselves forward, to usurp authority over men, and seek to dominate men. Only weak, spineless men will allow it to happen, such as those who condone and contribute to the error of wayward discernment ministries. And only proud rebellious women want it to happen. God’s people should all honour God’s order and organization.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Amplified Bible (AMP)
8For it is by free grace (God's unmerited favor) that you are saved ([a]delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;
9Not because of works [not the fulfillment of the Law's demands], lest any man should boast. [It is not the result of what anyone can possibly do, so no one can pride himself in it or take glory to himself.]

Salvation is of the Lord (Jonah 2:9)

Salvation is not a system of doctrine, a religious creed, or a reformation of life. Salvation is a Person; and that Person is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Wherever true faith is found, there is gospel knowledge and spiritual understanding.
This man, Simeon, had a clear knowledge of the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is important. Blessed are those who are thus taught of God (Isaiah 54:11-14; John 6:45). Faith in Christ is not a leap in the dark. It is confidence based upon the revelation of God. It is the result of being taught of God. It is obvious Simeon knew that God has an elect people in every race, Jew and Gentile, who are the true Israel of God. He understood that all men and women by nature are engulfed in great spiritual darkness. But he also knew that the Lord Jesus Christ, the very baby he held in his arms, is the Light of the world and the glory of God, the glory of the Triune God, the revelation of the glory of God and the glory of his people (Jeremiah 9:23-24; 1 Corinthians 1:30-31). Simeon knew that the Lord Jesus Christ is himself God’s salvation. ~
Read on : http://www.donfortner.com/bible_class_lessons/luke/luk%20015%2002v25-35%20Christ%20Our%20Light%2C%20Our%20Glory%20and%20Our%20Salvation.htm

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Discovering Christ In All The Scriptures BY Don Fortner

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The conversion of an inventor of false doctrine has never yet been heard of; for a sin such as this is too great, because it blasphemes God’s Word and sins against the Holy Ghost. This is why God lets inventors of false doctrine become hardened. Accordingly, the word of Is. 6:9 is fulfilled: With seeing […]

“These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation (Acts 16:17).” The natural man is a terribly proud creature—selfish, self-confident, self-important, and self-sufficient. He lives in bondage to sin, Satan, and self; worships and serves the creature more than the Creator (Rom. 1:25). He cringes […]

If the roof is blown off of your house in a tornado, it will cause you trouble, grief, and expense. But there is no cause for despair. If one of the walls of this building were to be torn off in a storm, it would require our time, labor, and money to replace it. […]

Grant Swart As the years have passed, the “festive” or holiday season, which includes Christmas day, has become a commercialized farce, along with other similar secular celebrations such as Mothers Day and Valentines Day. The original meaning and “reason for the season” has been replaced with lavish parties, extreme festivities, entertainment and expensive g […]

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Test your John Calvin knowledge! The quiz is only 10 questions long, and since you’re such a Calvin scholar, it should take you no time at all.

The love of the truth

"They perish because they did not receive the love of
the truth, that they might be saved." 2 Thess. 2:10
There is a receiving of 'the truth', and a receiving of
'the love of the truth'. These two things widely differ.
To receive the truth will not necessarily save; for many
who receive the truth, never receive 'the love of the truth'.
Professors by thousands receive the truth into their
judgment, and adopt the plan of salvation as their creed;
but are neither saved nor sanctified thereby. But to receive
'the love of the truth' by Jesus being made sweet and
precious to the soul, is to receive salvation itself.
"Yes, He is very precious to you who believe." 1 Peter 2:7
J. C. Philpot, "The Valley of Achor" 1861

Pastor Don Fortner’s “Zingers”

Pastor Fortner addresses some subject or thought very briefly in each bulletin. Those which he authored are contained in the document below. While we believe them to be "quotable quotes" and worthy of posting to any refrigerator, some of us have given them another name. If you will allow, we call them "Zingers."

September 8, 2013
Even when His providence brings great pain and sorrow, our heavenly Father’s eye is ever watching over us to do us good.

September 1, 2013
Faithful preachers faithfully preach the Gospel of God’s free and sovereign grace in Christ all the time, and preach it in such clear and distinct terms that no one can mistake their doctrine.

August 25, 2013
Any preacher who tells you how you can make yourself more righteous than Christ has made you knows nothing of the righteousness of God and the Gospel of the grace of God.

August 18, 2013
No greater blasphemy ever spewed from the pit of hell than the blasphemous assertion that Christ died to redeem the multitudes who there suffer the wrath of God.

August 11, 2013
False prophets are hirelings who care not for the sheep. Faithful men are true shepherds who care not for themselves.